Bombastic 'Mo

Let’s Vilify Some More People

Representative Mark Miloscia just introduced a bill that would add an 18.5% sales tax to all adult entertainment items.  The Digest of the Bill reads:

“Dedicates revenue from a tax on the sale and use of adult entertainment materials and services to crime victims’ compensation, with an emphasis towards providing services, support, or therapy to those children who are victims of sexual abuse.

Imposes an additional tax on each retail sale of adult entertainment materials and services equal to eighteen and one-half percent of the selling price.  Requires all revenue collected on sales and use of adult entertainment materials and services to be deposited in the general fund to be used solely for the general assistance unemployable program.”

I’m pro-tax in almost any regard, and I really appreciate that we’re in dire need of new streams of revenue.  But this bill is completely wrong.

I believe in the “sin tax”.  I think raising the taxes on cigarettes makes sense, as they do have a tangible cost to society.   (Full disclosure: I’ve never smoked in my life.)

I can also get behind taxes on alcohol.  Like cigarettes, they have an associated cost to society (DUI’s, disintegrating livers, urine in alleyways) that’s not bundled into the cost of production.  (Full disclosure:  I got so drunk in Portland last weekend I vomited in my pants.)

But this doesn’t pass those same standards.  First off, it’d be very difficult to associate any real, tangible, negative affects of pornography or sex toys on society.  If anything, I think it’d be easier to prove their positive effect.  (One example would be this study that links an increase in access to Internet pornography to a decrease in rape.)

Second, this tax is simply meant to impose a tax on people who generally would be unwilling to speak up for themselves.  Unfortunately we’re still living in the remnants of a very Puritanical society, and many people are rather closeted about their adult entertainment expenditures.  It’s a very dangerous precedent to set to tax people who are either afraid or unable to defend themselves.

And third, the adult entertainment industry isn’t a good revenue source.  With the rise of YouTube-style porn sites, the vast majority of porn is now available for free.  In addition, unless the state gets a LOT better at policing our Internet use, it’s going to be a hard item to itemize.  Especially since the providers (who are mostly out of state already) will simply move further away from Washington.

Seriously folks.  It’s time for a fucking income tax.

In Portland, you only have to be 18 to have a Sam Adams

Ok, I bit the headline from a commenter on Queerty, who in turn found it somewhere even Google couldn’t track.

I was made aware of this story on January 20th, but I didn’t want to take part in the muck-raking during our spectacular inaguration.  That and I may have had a few drinks at breakfast….

The Willamette Weekly has been covering the long-dead sex life of the openly gay mayor of Portland, Oregon.  Sam Adams was elected as their mayor in May of 2008, and was sworn in on January 1st.  During his campaign, allegations were raised by one of his challengers that he had sex with the aptly named Beau Breedlove, a man who was 17 when they met in 2005.  At the time, Adams denied the allegations.

Pressed with mounting evidence that Adams was romantically involved with Breedlove, Adams confessed to lying during his general election.  He admitted to having sexual relations with Breedlove after he turned 18 (the legal age of consent in Oregon).  Adams indicated he lied to avoid the wild speculation that he had sex with Breedlove before he was of age, citing stereotypes that gay men are attracted to underage children.

Since then the media has thrown a giant fit reminiscent of the Clinton-Lewinsky years.  And I’ll clarify now, I was 12 years old when that happened, and even then I knew it wasn’t a big deal.  And I still thought girls had cooties.

Journalists all over are calling for Adams to resign.   Just Out, Portland’s largest gay paper, is out for blood.  Seattle’s own alt-weekly (aka gay weekly) The Stranger has differing opinions within its ranks.  Erica C. Barnett called for a resignation based solely on the fact that he lied to reporters, while sex advice columnist Dan Savage defends Adams rights to privacy and to stay in office.

Savage is also attending a rally tomorrow outside the Portland’s City Hall (Friday, 1/23 at 5:30 PM PST).  The Facebook group Support Sam Adams currently has 1,083 members and is growing.

My take?  I almost resisted blogging about this because it shouldn’t be news.  Who cares.  This is nothing more than a sex-negative witch hunt.  While it’s comforting for members of the press to hide their outrage behind the allegations of lying, this is nothing but a facade.  All politicians lie.  Obama lied about Gay Marriage.  And, in all honesty, I lied. Obama doesn’t actually read this blog.  Yet.

What it comes down to is a populace ready to devour a politician for being human.  My disdain for age of consent laws aside, this has nothing to do with his ability to be the mayor of a city.  This doesn’t affect his years of public service.

Let it go journalists.  This isn’t a story.  And if you’re in the Portland area, show some solidarity for your mayor.  After all, what a DILF.

Sexting Update: Yuma County Sext Free!

As a follow up to my earlier story,  I’ve been watching out for any other news about these poor kids who were charged with child-pornography for taking self-portraits.  It’s really breaking my heart and I just feel for these kids.  Here’s the local news’ varying reactions to the tale:

Yuma County Sext Free

Apparently Yuma County, Arizona is quick to pat itself on the back for youth-well-raised.  In an article titled “Teen ’sexting’ not seen as trend in Yuma,” Sun writer William Roller was quick to point out…

“The provocative practice of teenagers sending nude photographs of themselves via text messages - or “sexting” - is a growing phenomenon elsewhere in the country but has not surfaced locally, according to law enforcement officials.

The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office also reports no occurrences of sexting by Yuma teens or any involved with posting inappropriate images online, according to Capt. Eben Bratcher, YCSO spokesman.”

Denver Lawmakers creating phone-inclusive child-porn laws

“Now, Colorado state lawmakers are looking at a bill that would expand Internet luring and distribution of child pornography laws to include cell phones in an effort to curtail sexting.

“It happened at Castle Rock Middle School. Six students took nude photos of themselves and forwarded them to classmates. One of the photos ended up being circulated in California.

At least one parent said the law should also apply to the kids themselves.  “It’s wrong and they know it. It’s not like they’re 5-year-old kids that took a match to something and had to learn. These kids know better,” said parent Shannon Marx.  Lawmakers said the courts will decide how to prosecute a case if a teenager were to be charged, but the law is truly intended to target predators.”

Wisconsin Teen Charged with Uploading Naked Photos of Ex to MySpace

“Alex Phillips, a ‘wise guy’ who wanted to get revenge on his 16-year-old girlfriend by posting photos of her most private parts on MySpace, now faces felony child pornography charges in Wisconsin.

“When the girl discovered the photos had been posted on the Internet with explicit captions, she contacted police, who asked Phillips to take them down or face jail time. Police said the boy refused, saying, ‘Fuck that, I am keeping them up.’” 

While I’ll admit, this one doesn’t get my sympathies, it’s still a scary precedent.

Quick to Capitalize

Nothing sells products better than fear.  Parents who are afraid their children will be forever tainted by the Sexting epidemic are able to purchase special sim cards from Houston based Spygadgets.com. The sim cards allow parents to spy on their kids every text.

“‘Our phones have been ringing off the hook,’ says Jon Marshall, CEO of SpyGadgets.com in Houston, TX. ‘Parents just want to protect their kids and they are scared. Nobody wants to see their child end up in prison or have their future ruined just because of something like this.’ Marshall sells a cell phone spy device that is used to recover data from the SIM card found in some cell phones on the market. It can let you view text messages stored to the SIM card, even deleted text messages. While it won’t recover pictures from the phone, reading the messages will give a parent an idea of what their teen is texting.”

Sucks to be young….

OMG Becky! Your body’s not your own.

In a startling example of sex-negativity, invasion of privacy, and just plain stupidity, the police department of Greensburg, Pennsylvania is charging six teenage students of Greensburg Salem High School with child pornography offenses.

The charges stem from the nude and semi-nude photos three 14 and 15-year-old girls took of themselves and sent to three of their male peers via cell phone.

Police are charging the three girls with “manufacturing, disseminating or possessing child pornography”, and the boys are being charged with possession of child pornography.

“Taking nude pictures of yourself, nothing good can come out of it,” said Police Captain George Seranko in a statement to local news affiliate, WPXI.

The photos were discovered in October, after officials at the high school took the cell phone from one of the boys.  Cell phone use is against the school’s policy.  The first photo found was a self-portrait taken by one of the girls.

Apparently Captain Seranko decided to file the charges in order to send a strong message to other students.

“It’s very dangerous,” Seranko told WXPI. “Once it’s on a cell phone, that cell phone can be put on the Internet where everyone in the world can get access to that juvenile picture. You don’t realize what you are doing until it’s already done.”

MSNBC picked up the story, and spoke with Patrick Artur, a Philadelphia defense attorney regarding the charges  “It’s clearly overkill,” Artur told MSNBC.  “… The letter of the law seems to have been violated, but this is not the type of defendant that the legislature envisioned.”

This entire debacle makes me sick.  According to a Cincinatti article on “sexting”, 20% of teens have sent or posted online nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves.  Cincinatti.com also contacted Christopher Kraus, the director of the group Postponing Sexual Involvement based out of the Cincinatti Children’s Hospital.

“Adolescent sexuality is part of normal human development,” Kraus told Cincinatti.com. “Teens are trying to figure out how to express their sexuality appropriately. They are learning, and they are learning from adults.”

Apparently they’re learning that the adults are hypocrites.  Although there are no mandatory minimum sentences under Pennsylvania’s child porn laws, the teens could still be forced to register as sex offenders for at least 10 years.  Pretty heavy-duty attack on civil liberties.

Perhaps more disturbing, in the comments section at the bottom of the WXPI article were frustrated pleas from the mother of one of the young boys now charged with possession of child pornography. [Edited for grammar/spelling throughout.]

“Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying what my son did is right and that he shouldn’t be punished.  He should have deleted the pic when the other boy sent it to him.  If I would have found the pics on his phone, he would have been grounded and he wouldn’t have his phone anymore ( I have a daughter).  What I’m trying to say is that my son shouldn’t be charged with sexual abuse of children. My son never touched or hurt anyone!  For the rest of his life he will have to register with Megan’s law.  He won’t ever be allowed around kids.  How will he ever go to college or get a job?  This charge will label my son as a sex offender.  If I don’t find a way to get the charge dropped, my son’s life is over.”